Brad Keselowski fired the first shot in NASCAR's championship Chase on Sunday, charging past Jimmie Johnson late in the race to win the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

With the win, Keselowski took the early lead in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup. He leads Johnson, the five-time champion, by three points.

"I feel like this is Round 1 of a heavyweight title bout," Keselowski said. "It's good to win it and it feels great, but there are a lot of rounds left."

Johnson, who won the Chase five consecutive times from 2006-10, dominated the first race of the Chase and led Keselowski by 1.1 seconds when the leaders pitted for the final time under green on Laps 38 and 39.

Keselowski, who pitted one lap later than Johnson, came off the track just ahead of Johnson and then outran him to take the position. When the rest of the leaders pitted to complete the cycle of pit stops, Keselowski held a 1.6-second lead over Johnson.

Denny Hamlin, one of the favorites to win the Chase, was running ninth but ran out of fuel on the final lap and finished 16th. Johnson and Keselowski entered the Chase tied for second in the standings, both three points behind Hamlin.

Keselowski, who ran second behind Johnson most of the race, said he wasn't sure how he overtook on the final run.

"We were both showing our hand," he said. "I don't know if the 48 slowed down, or if we sped up. For some reason, we just took off."

"The last run, he was just better," Johnson said of Keselowski. "But it's a great start to the Chase for us. It's a long 10 races."

Johnson dominated the race from the start. After taking the lead from Aric Almirola on Lap 3, he led the next 42 laps, quickly establishing himself as the driver to beat.

Johnson was in command until Keselowski took the lead with a two-tire pit stop. Keselowski led the next 48 laps until Johnson regained the lead on pit road on Lap 151.

Jeff Gordon's championship hopes took a major hit when the throttle on his car stuck and he crashed into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 188. Gordon, who has scored three consecutive top-three finishes to make the Chase, finished 35th.

"I just let off the throttle and it didn't come all the way back," said Gordon, who was uninjured. "In this deal, you can't afford to have issues like that."

Matt Kenseth, another pre-Chase favorite, also had a tough day, breaking a shock and finishing 18th.

After the first of 10 Chase races, Keselowski leads Johnson by three points while Stewart is third, eight points back. Hamlin, Kahne and Bowyer are each tied for fourth, 15 points behind. The rest of the Chase standings include Earnhardt (-17), Greg Biffle (-19), Truex (-21), Kevin Harvick (-24), Kenseth (-26) and Gordon (-47).